Turbo Cider Experiment

Hey folks,

I've just kicked off my very first home brew, started with a turbo cider

I've got a few questions though as this is completely new to me and I've no idea what some of the terms even mean...

To start with this is what I've done

+ Turbo Cider 1
5 Litre demijohn
2.5 grams yeast
4.5 litres concentrate AJ
OG 1.046

+ Turbo Cider 2
5 Litre demijohn
2.5 grans yeast
4.5 litres concentrate AJ
2 Tables spoons extra sugar
OG 1.048

Basically I've just kicked them off, placed them on a heat mat for 12 hours and the fermentation has kicked off a treat

I'm now going to put them into a dark cupboard but I'm not sure how long for ?? The longer the more alcohol content ?? Or wait for it to stop fermenting or when the gravity reaches 1 ?? I'm aiming for a cider of around 7% ABV...

There are 2 terms that are used everywhere but I can't find any definitions of them. Racking & Priming ? What are these ?

Thanks
- G

Just to add a little colour heres the DJs after 12 hours

First off, those are nice looking demjohn/carboys!

You wont hit 7% with either batch. It looks like the highest potential alcohol that either could reach is 6.3% . You'll need more fermentables to reach your target.

Depending on which type of yeast you used, you can usually expect something like cider to ferment out completely, and make your hydrometer hit 1.000 or lower. You could potentially leave these two in a closet, with careful observation at first, and bring them out after a month and bottle if they are clear by then. If they aren't clear yet, you should rack to clean containers and allow them to settle in secondary.

Racking is synonymous to "transferring to an empty container of the same size." With sanitized tubing, you gently siphon from your primary to your new demijohn (carboy?), and to avoid splashing during this process. While siphoning, be gentle and try to avoid picking up the sediment on the bottom of the primary fermenter. Once this is done, you have racked from primary to secondary. Fix a rubber bung with a hole in it, add an airlock, and let that sit for at least three weeks or longer. The goal here, at least with wine or cider, is to allow any fermentation to complete and the wine/cider to settle. Settling can take months, so be patient!

Priming, is when you are bottling a beverage that you desire to carbonate. Beer, cider, and sometimes wine use this. When you are ready to bottle (with bottles that can handle carbonation, of course!), you can either mix in a pre-determined amount of sugar to each bottle once filled or do it in bulk in a clean/sediment free demijohn/carboy or bucket. The idea is that even though the cider has fermented as far as it will go, once you add priming sugar and bottle, the yeast will eat what little sugar is there and produce some CO2 for bubbly.

Excellent thanks for that...

I've got another DJ that I've not filled up yet so will get that going but with a bit more fermentables in. What OG should you aim for for a ABV of 7%, assuming I'll drop it down to 1.000 ??

Hi Gaz, I've recently started doing turbo ciders and this is what I do.
I use a 25l fermenter.

25 Litres of Lidl Cloudy Apple juice.
1kg Demerara sugar.
500g Lidl summer honey.
5tsp wine tannin
Pack of Youngs cider yeast.

Dissolve the sugar, honey and the tannin in a litre or two of apple juice on the stove, add that to the rest of the apple juice in the fermenter with the yeast and put an airlock on it.
Let this ferment for about a month to 6 weeks then drink from the carboy or I rack it to a 20l vinotainer, which is a reusable winebox.
It's fast, it won't clear and it comes out like a scrumpy cider, but I find it's a bit dry and needs sweetening when drinking with a little fresh apple juice, this also takes a bit of the strength out of it as it's coming out about 8.5%ish, so it's strong before the dilution.
Everyone that's tried this so far is well impressed and it's quick and easy with no fuss.
I suppose you could scale it down to a gallon portion by dividing my recipe by 5.

If I was doing a party I'd actually premix this, but for home and the ease of storage I add the juice as I'm pouring it.

Thanks for that... I' wasn't sure how long to leave it to be honest, but it's bubbling away very quickly at the minute. They are now in the airing cupboard...

If you don't have wine tannin then make a strong cup of cha, that'll do the job.

If you're doing real turbo cider, you can drink it from the carboy at two weeks or so once primary fermentation is over, but the bit of extra time will make a huge difference to the cider at the end of it.

Made some with a mixture of different supermarket juices and some strong tea, no sugar cos I wasn't after it having too much of a kick. It's been about 6 or 7 weeks from pitching yeast (left it a month then bottled) and it isn't bad. Tastes like a decent lightly sparkling dry cider. Bit rough around the edges, but fine when chilled, but I figure another month before I try the next one and see if it improves any.

Does your airing cupboard get very warm? I tend to find slower, cooler fermenting is better and keep away from heat sources.

I've made it with both cloudy and non-cloudy juice and I found that the non-cloudy lacks body and needs to have some cloudy juice added for sweetening, so I'll not bother with the clear stuff again.

Airing cupboard is no warmer than the rest of the house tbh, boiler isn't on at the moment so guessing it's around the 20 Degree C mark. I could put it into the garage, which is dark and a fair bit cooler...

What's with the wine tannin or Tea adding ?? I've not actually done this :s

welshgaz said:

Airing cupboard is no warmer than the rest of the house tbh, boiler isn't on at the moment so guessing it's around the 20 Degree C mark. I could put it into the garage, which is dark and a fair bit cooler...

What's with the wine tannin or Tea adding ?? I've not actually done this :s

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It adds body and bite, it's very thin if you don't do it.
It's not too late, make up a strong cup of tea and throw it in.
I've added pretty late before, the boiling water will make it sterile.

20c is good, don't put it in the garage.

OK I'll do that when I get home...

I've only got a 1 gallon carboy on the go though, is it one cup per gallon or one cup per 5 gallons (most people seem to brew in 5 gallons) ??

Also worth stirring the mixture up when I get it in there ?? I've read it's best not to disturb when it's fermenting ??

Just as EoinMag said, if your boiler isn't on and it is just sort of normal temps you'll be fine and dandy. The adding a cup of stewed tea thing seems to be an old country wine making trick to fake the tannins you get off cider apples or grape skins. Of course you could buy some powder tannin compound from the homebrew shop, but the tea trick works and is make-do-and-mend genius!

Another one is to squeeze the juice of a few lemons in too to try and get a hint at some West Country cider apple tartness. Maybe try that next time and see what you prefer. Kentish cider I'm told tends to use more dessert apples and fewer tannin and tart types than West Country, so could be worth experimenting with different levels of added tannins and acidity.

welshgaz said:

OK I'll do that when I get home...

I've only got a 1 gallon carboy on the go though, is it one cup per gallon or one cup per 5 gallons (most people seem to brew in 5 gallons) ??

Also worth stirring the mixture up when I get it in there ?? I've read it's best not to disturb when it's fermenting ??

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Just pour in a cold mug of tea and it will mix itself quite happily. Give it a little twirl if you like to help it, all you really want to avoid is shaking it about too much and having to wait ages for the cack to drop out again.

Quality, I'm sure I can manage that !!

Tannin, from what I've read, comes from the skin of grapes & apples and adding the Tea balances that out yeah ? Do you still get that with concentrate apple juice ??

Can't see this coming out very drinkable for my first attempt but hey ho, if you first don't succeed and all that jazz

I think concentrated juice will be made from normal dessert apples - whatever is in surplus. Cider apples are much less commercially grown, so supermarket juice will be made from normal apples for drinking rather than cider making. Bit of tannin and acid and you can experiment to find a more cider-like base.

Anyway, the cheap and popular commercial ciders are often based on concentrates with a few cider apples on top for flavour so what we're doing with tea and lemons isn't so far off.

Bit of patience and you'll end up with a decent cider, don't do yourself down!

Don't worry too much Gaz, the stuff I am making is honestly close to Old Rosie scrumpy from Westons, no flies on it at all I tell ya.

Another idea touted by deadskin (I think) on jimsbeerkit is to mash some bramley cookers and add that to the mix, I'm not as fond of that method myself, I think it adds too much tartness.

Adding a Bramley or two sounds interesting. Might try that next time, though not too heavy handed if it makes it too tart. You learn something new every day.

I was just at the supermarket actually and thought about adding some strawberries or black berries in... Thats for the next batch

The only reason I used concentrate is I couldn't find anything else but just found some not from concentrate stuff for a £1 a litre ! Going to set that off to see the taste difference but will add a cup of tea and some extra sugar in this time. Got fruit sugar this time instead of granulated

Now 'hoping' to get this to 7% ABV by my calculations I should be aiming for a original gravity reading of 1.055 ?? That's assuming it ferments out to 1.000

Not sure on gravities, I just throw them together and don't even bother with readings on the ciders. The idea with these is, they have a kick and don't take long to make.
Get yourself a vinotainer for serving and you're laughing, low maintenance and fast to do.

This is the one I have: http://www.homebrewmegastore.co.uk/...-spirit-making/wine-boxes/vinotainer-20l.html

Needs a bit of tape to strengthen the cardboard in spots, but does the job.

You can get them in 5l size too of course, but....go big or go home

Got plenty of bottles for storage
Saved up all my old glass ones for the Stowford Press i buy. Couple of bottle tops and job done...

Thanks for all the info though guys, much appreciated !

Yeah bottles are good, but in the whole spirit of the turbo cider the containers are great as they just make the whole thing easier, no bottling, pouring from a keg (of sorts).
Good luck with it anyway.

If it's drinkable it's not like it'll last long anyway

welshgaz said:

If it's drinkable it's not like it'll last long anyway

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Make sure you're well stocked up with Toilet paper for the first few experiments

Well exactly 2 weeks on and I think the fermentation has stopped, well sort of. Getting a bubble every so often but very very slow... Time to bottle !

They are actually starting to clear, which I think is a good sign ?

I'm going to add some more plain apple juice to the mix to lighten the taste a little but how much would you guys recommend I add per litre ??

I also want to add a bit of sugar to half the bottles to try and carbonate them. Again how much sugar should I add ??